The Texas Rangers will place outfielder Josh Hamilton on the active roster Monday, per Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Hamilton will join his teammates in Cleveland on Sunday night as they prepare for a three-game series with the Indians.
Wilson provided a comment from Rangers general manager Jon Daniels:
Hamilton has yet to appear in a MLB game in 2015 while recovering from shoulder surgery and dealing with his acrimonious exit from the Los Angeles Angels.
He has played 12 games for Texas' Double-A and Triple-A affiliates. ESPN Stats & Info posted his notable numbers from his minor league stint:
Last Thursday, Rangers manager Jeff Banister gave an interview with KRLD-FM 105.3 in Dallas, via the Dallas Morning News, about the 34-year-old's potential return to the majors. Banister said the big thing regarding Hamilton was being able to play nine innings on a nightly basis:
The timetable [for his return] is about the same, really. From everything from all of the evaluations that I get I'm getting that he feels good, feels better. The timing is really close, the at bats have been good, the attitude has been exceptional down there with the interaction with the fans. Really, the back-to-back nine inning games are what we need him to pull through and to come out on the other side healthy, in shape and ready to go.
Given everything that has happened, expectations for Hamilton this year will be tempered. There's a big question as to how he'll perform after the shoulder surgery, not to mention he looked little like the slugger who captured the 2010 Most Valuable Player Award before the shoulder injury.
Texas will hope that Hamilton can at least provide something positive as the team tries to get back to .500. As of Saturday night, the Rangers have a 12.6 percent chance to make the playoffs, according to Baseball Prospectus, so they've already dug themselves into a hole to start the 2015 campaign.
Hamilton can't single-handedly turn the season around, but he could provide a spark for an offense that ranks 10th in home runs (43) and is tied for 17th in slugging percentage (.388).
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